They used to be called "first world problems" but, in 2023, new generations are more likely to call it "bougie broke" — overspending on Amazon (AMZN) -) or eBay (EBAY) -) purchases, putting an expensive trip to Italy on a credit card or having a disproportionate chunk of one's paycheck go toward leasing an extravagant car.
Videos with the hashtag "bougie broke" have more than 7.9 million views on the ByteDance-owned TikTok.
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In one TikTok video with nearly 500,000 views, influencer Paige Butts shows off a Louis Vuitton tote with nothing inside either the bag itself or the attached coin purse as a way to satirize how some content creators promote lifestyles that they could not actually afford — whether because they get these luxurious items temporarily as part of partnerships or get themselves into debt portraying a lifestyle outside their means.
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The One Thing You Need to Know About Those 'Bougie Broke' Videos
"Have you ever been broke but no one believes you because you don't look like a broke person?" the narrator in another popular TikTok series says over footage of infinity pools, first-class meals and immaculately designed homes. "The thing is, like you broke, but like a bougie broke, like you 'broque.'"
The overlay has become popular and a number of accounts have started adding it to videos from their lives to tell followers "I'm really not as rich as you think."
"actually though I partner with hotels and get paid by them but still like to spendddddd," travel influencer Sam McClendon says in another video.
@sammcclendon when people ask me how I afford to travel 😂 actually though I partner with hotels and get paid by them but still like to spendddddd #broke #bougiebroke #amalficoast #bougieonabudget #positano #italytravel
♬ original sound - Josh.Jacobs
Both the term and the practice has generated controversy over referring what often amounts to personal choices to overspend on luxury as "being broke" when a rising cost of living has left many actually struggling to meet daily needs.
But as Wells Fargo (WFC) -) Wealth & Investment Management Managing Director of Advice And Planning Emily Irwin recently told CNBC, being vocal about not being afford the lifestyle one portrays can help "dispel that whole notion" of what is actually accessible to only a very small portion of the population.
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"Money is so taboo," Irwin told the news outlet. "To talk about that, to put it out there in a very vulnerable way, I think is also empowering of others to even start the conversation."
A Bankrate study once found that 34% of social media users feel negatively about their finances after going on platforms such as TikTok or Meta (META) -)'s Instagram or Facebook. For Generation Zers aged between 18 and 25 and millennials aged between 26 and 41, the number went up to a respective 47% and 46%.
While few words can truly outdo the impact of sprawling European panoramas and lavish shopping sprees, telling followers that one can't really afford to live like this is what some see as an important step toward financial transparency — a criticism that is very often fielded at influencers who promote extravagant lifestyles.
"There's definitely a trend towards every generation being a little bit more comfortable talking about things that were serious stigmas in previous generations," Betterment VP of Behavioral Finance and Investing Dan Egan told CNBC.
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